Review: Mario & Luigi Brothership reinforces the brothers’ versatility in RPGs

After a long period of hiatus from Mario RPGs, the last spin-off appeared in 2018, on the Nintendo 3DS, with Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journeythe series starring the mascots is back at 45 minutes of the second half, at the end of the Nintendo Switch cycle, on the eve of the announcement of its successor.

Considering that the Nintendo Switch is about to share public attention with its younger brother, many people imagined that the end of 2024 would be lukewarm in terms of news, perhaps overshadowed by the reveal of a new video game. The end of the year, however, became historic for the Japanese company’s long-running hybrid, promoting, in less than three months, some of the best games in its library: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Super Mario Party Jamboree and, of course, Mario & Luigi: Brothership.

Fans of Mario, specifically of the mustachioed plumber’s RPGs, returned to “eat well” not long ago, but the wait was worth it. After all, within a one-year window, we had three of the best titles of the genre released by Big N: Super Mario RPG e Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorboth re-releases, and Mario & Luigi: Brothershipthe new one on the list that we will talk about here. Check out our impressions below.

The lightness of the “Nintendo way” of storytelling

First of all, I need to highlight Nintendo’s impeccable localization work into Brazilian Portuguese. It wasn’t the first localized title, it’s true, but it is, without a doubt, the most relevant, since part of the magic of Mario & Luigi: Brothership resides in its barrage of dialogue. The humorous twists were not simply translated literally, but rather interpreted and adapted to our way of speaking, giving the game even more personality.

Em Mario & Luigi: Brothershipthe mustachioed brothers are tasked with returning to the Mushroom Kingdom, but not before reconnecting the drifting islands of Concordia, whose land has become fragmented following an incident with the Arbolux tree. Without going too deep to avoid spoilers, your objective is basically to visit the drifting islets to help the local inhabitants and, thus, restore the places’ vital energy sources.

The narrative of Brothership It follows the guidelines of the other games in the franchise, sometimes being too faithful, but it wins us over with striking and charismatic characters – and, above all, with the lightness of the “Nintendo way” of telling stories. On one of the islands, for example, right at the beginning of the adventure, Mario and Luigi need to help the master of the little step find hair gel to redo his hairstyle, the type of mission that brings smiles with its harmless humor and that stands out for simplicity.

Maritime exploration with great influences

With influences from the maritime exploration of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker e The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Brothership is a game about sailing the seas of the continent of Elétria in search of adventures. Navigation is not free, that is, it is not possible to take control of the ship directly, but you can plan your route to unlock new points of interest, such as islets and reefs.

While the Nauta sails to its destination, the brothers can dedicate the waiting time for the trip to secondary activities. You can also take advantage of the downtime to evolve Mario and Luigi’s characteristics, whether by fighting enemies or opening a bunch of forks in previously visited areas to locate secrets. Come to think of it, it’s a smart way to encourage repetition without the act of repeating being too obvious — at least there’s an excuse for it.

Exploring, in fact, is in the DNA of Mario RPGs, and the game always has a good reward for those who are curious. From consumable items to equipment with better attributes, everything you do generates a return worthy of your efforts. Exploration is organic, as you are not tied to icons on the map to know what and when to do, which ends up intensifying the adventurous tone of Brothership.

The journey can be linear for those who want, let’s say, to follow in a straight line, but it can sustain more than 50 hours of gameplay if what you want is to explore every corner of the seas of Elétria. The duration may seem exaggerated for an RPG that doesn’t have much complexity in its structure, but the game brilliantly balances moments of combat, exploration, platforming and puzzles, taking extra care so that the player never feels discouraged.

Despite the generous content, with many side quests being completed on every main island, including activities that expire if not completed in time, I feel that the hours of entertainment that Brothership offers are undermined by the plot twists, especially in the portion that precedes the final section. Still, the curiosity to know what is within reach of the telescope is what most encourages us on our sea journey.

Tactile combat with new nuances

In addition to exploration, combat is one of the key aspects of any Mario RPG and that, fortunately, doesn’t change here. The battle system, in fact, gained new nuances with the inclusion of “Bros.” attacks, which function as skills shared between the two brothers, complete with eye-catching animations inspired by acrobatics and gestures from real sports, such as volleyball and soccer.

Battles take place in turns, just like in a traditional RPG, but they ask the player to press the attack and defense buttons at the exact moment, almost in a rhythm game scheme, to make Mario and Luigi react synchronously to the actions of the players. enemies. The touch of complexity comes from Battle Plugs, items that can be equipped and combined to amplify both passive and active skills of the two protagonists.

The possibility of responding to different combat situations is such a good idea that it should be copied by all turn-based RPGs, considering that this makes combat more tactile and, consequently, much more satisfying. I would say that the only caveat is the excess of loading screens in the transitions of almost everything we do. Considering that you spend much of the experience struggling to level up, this waiting time soon begins to test your patience.

It is worth it?

Have no doubts: Mario & Luigi: Brothership It’s a grand return to the Mario RPG formula and a great addition to the Nintendo Switch’s impressive library of exclusives. The maritime element gives an air of newness to the structure we’ve known since Superstar Saga and ensures the longevity expected from a game of this genre in terms of content — and THERE IS content, in Caps Lock indeed.

Brothership It doesn’t mark a revolution or anything like that, but rather a natural evolution of a necessary spin-off to Nintendo’s portfolio.

Nota do Voxel: 85

Positive points (pros):

• Maritime element brings freshness to Mario’s RPG formula;
• Turn-based combat is more satisfying than ever and enhances the tactile component with new features;
• Full of content, as a good RPG should be, despite the plot hiccups;
• It exudes Nintendo’s magic in its visuals and sound;
• Simply perfect location for Brazilian Portuguese.

Contras:

• Excessive loading screens, especially between battles;
• Unstable performance, both in docked and portable mode, but nothing that significantly compromises the experience;
• The story isn’t that good and drags on after a while.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership was provided by Nintendo for review purposes on the Nintendo Switch. The game is now available for purchase on the company’s console.